Secret Agent's Handbook: Of Special Devices, World War II

The National Archives. Very Good/Very Good. 2000. Hard Cover. Dimensions: 27.8 x 22 x 2.2 Cm 1903365007 Dust jacket complete, unclipped. Original cloth boards with bright gilt titling on spine. No ownership marks. Numerous illustrations / photographs. 264 pages clean and tight. Following Churchill's directive to `set Europe ablaze', the Special Operations Executive set about organizing resistance in Europe and beyond. To facilitate these activities, government scientists and inventors produced a remarkable array of devices designed for sabotage and other covert missions behind enemy lines in Nazi-occupied Europe. These ranged from machine guns and explosives to more-outlandish devices, such as incendiary cigarettes and briefcases and exploding rats. This book reproduces the main pages from the 1940s SOE Descriptive Catalogue of Special Devices and Supplies in their original format. Each item has a photograph or diagram, plus a description of the object and instructions for its use. Included is everything that a secret agent might want to requisition from SOE stores - from camouflage and disguises to weapons, wireless sets, underwater and parachute equipment, medical supplies and even small boats. Mark Seaman's expert introduction explains how many of the items were used on actual missions. .